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I don't want to be a human binky!

My 5.5 month old gets up 3-4 times throughout the night. I have the suspicion that he can't put himself back to sleep when he wakes up, and is using me as a paci to do so. BUT, sometimes I think that he really is hungry because he will eat each time. I just don't know! He used to take a binky when he was a newborn, but not anymore. Would it be too difficult to reintroduce it again to see if he'll take it? I need to do something because I wake up every morning feeling like a walking zombie. I think I only got four hours of sleep last night! I tried sleep training him last month, but he is as stubborn as his father and he just cried, cried, cried. And when he cries, he CRIES. We call it his "mad cry." And, his cries escalate the madder he gets. (sigh).

Re: I don't want to be a human binky!

Are you co-sleeping? If not you may want to try it. Beats the heck out of getting "up' 4 x a night. Then you will know whther or not your baby needs to eat. Often if a child wakes up alone in the dark they do need "comfort" to get back to sleep. But if they wake and they can feel/smell you they go right back to sleep. ANd if they are hungry you can usually get your breast in thier mouth while they are rooting around for food while they're still sleeping. Way less Crying as well......

Re: I don't want to be a human binky!

We co-sleep about halfway through the night. I lay him in his pack n play (still haven't moved him into his crib so he sleeps in the pack n play in our room) at about 8-8:30pm. Then, he will wake up about 10:30pm. I will usually nurse him and lay him back in his pack n play if he falls asleep while nursing. If not, then I'll lay him in bed with me in which he will fall asleep and stay for the rest of the night. Sometimes, co-sleeping helps and he will wake up every four hours. But, last night he slept with us the whole night and he was waking up every two hours. If I am REALLY dead tired, I will try nursing him sidelying when we co-sleep, but I find that he doesn't latch on well doing that and I end up sore. Last week, I ended up with a blood blister

I requested a hold on "The No Cry Sleep Solution" at our local library. Hope it will become available soon for me to check out and read.

Re: I don't want to be a human binky!

I know how frustrating those frequent feedings/pacifyings can be!!! My 7 mo dd eats every 2-3 hours around the clock. I have gotten really good at sleeping with her in the recliner latched on--sometimes I dont even remember how many times I woke up to feed her. I don't cosleep so I get up every time, get her up and sit in the recliner with her and fall back to sleep. When I wake back up I put her back down and go back to bed. I haven't really gotten good at the whole cosleeping thing and she actually seems to wake up more frequently when we do cosleep.

But, I am a total walking zombie! And everyone I know says I should let her CIO at night, but dd sounds like your ds--stubborn with escalating cries. I just don't have the willpower/heart to let her cio. She did sleep through the night for the first time last Sunday (from 11-5). It was awesome, and she did something similar on Monday (9-3), but last night we were back to her old schedule of up and eating every 2-3 hours. Sigh!!!

Re: I don't want to be a human binky!

first of all don't feel badly about nursing your baby to sleep at any time during the night. with my first child, I let him cry it out and yes, he did eventually learn to self soothe, but with my daughter I did some research and realized there were better(in my opinion) ways to teach good sleeping habits/associations with it. babies need nourishment through the night until they are at least 6-7 months old, some a little longer. After that it is mostly comfort(unless of course your little one is not eatying much during the day, in which he WILL make up for it at night), but don't call your self a passy! You are mommy, the one person your baby associates comfort, warmth and security in a very special and unique way through nursing. that type of comfort can not be mimmicked by anyone else.

your baby dosn't just want your nipple to suck on, he wants you and thats ok! its not always easy, but one day, your little one will look up and decide he doesn't need to nurse so much at night, and perhaps doesn't need you anymore to put him to sleep. Just a thought!

and when that day comes, you may find yourself missing those late night quiet moments with your little one. Mostly though, I just want to encourage you that you don't HAVE to change anything you are doing, you are mothering your baby by attending to his needs at all hours, when he cues you by crying. A really good quote I read by an IBCLC was this,

"People may tell you something to the effect of "If you nurse your child at night (or sleep near your child, or a zillion other things), you won't be able to discontinue it in the future." This sells books, but it isn't true at all!"

So rest assured you are doing wonderful things for your baby and if the time arises where you truly feel you need a break from being "needed" so muhc, as we have all been there! You can possibly try gentle night weaning, but I have read and seen taht this may work better when your child is older, say around 18 months or so, where they can understand a little better that "numnums"" need to go to bed. lol

Re: I don't want to be a human binky!

[QUOTE=Nwfdrool. Sometimes, co-sleeping helps and he will wake up every four hours. But, last night he slept with us the whole night and he was waking up every two hours. If I am REALLY dead tired, I will try nursing him sidelying when we co-sleep, but I find that he doesn't latch on well doing that and I end up sore. Last week, I ended up with a blood blister

I requested a hold on "The No Cry Sleep Solution" at our local library. Hope it will become available soon for me to check out and read.[/QUOTE]

A 4-5 hour stretch is considered "sleeping through the night" anything beyond that should reflect his regular day patterns on eating. The every two hours thing if it's new could be teeth. 5&1/2 months? Right age. Have you noticed his day naps getting shorter as well? He could be in pain. Try tylenol and see if that gets you longer stretches. If so he's probably in pain and will be comfort nursing to deal with it. If that's it HANG ON. It's get worse before it gets better. Can get to be every 40mins if the pain isn't managed. Try Tylenol. If he sleeps better it probably pain.